Many European countries' air pollutant emissions above legal limits

Under the National Emission Ceilings (NEC) Directive, EU Member States have individual air pollutant emission limits, or 'ceilings', for sulphur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen oxides (NO_x), ammonia (NH₃) and non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC). As of 2010, Member States should not have exceeded their emission ceilings, but the EEA report 'NEC Directive status report 2014', which includes preliminary data for 2013 and summarises data for 2010-12, confirms that a number of countries did so for these years.

The four pollutants addressed in the directive harm human health and the environment, causing respiratory illnesses, acidifying soil and surface waters, and damaging vegetation.

Key findings

• Ten Member States exceeded at least one ceiling in 2013. Germany was the only country that exceeded three of the four emission ceilings (NO_x, NMVOCs and NH₃), while Austria (NO_x and NH₃), Denmark (NMVOCs and NH₃) and Ireland (NO_x and NMVOCs) exceeded two ceilings in 2013.
• The following six Member States - Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland and Luxembourg - exceeded their NO_x emission ceilings in all years from 2010-2013. In 2013, Germany and France reported the highest exceedances of NO_x limits with 218 kilotonnes and 180 kilotonnes, respectively. In percentage terms, Luxembourg (41%) and Austria (32%) exceeded their NO_x emission ceilings by the greatest amount in 2013.
• Emissions from road transport is one of the main reasons for the large number of NO_x exceedances. NO_x reductions from the road transport sector have been lower than originally anticipated over the last two decades, partly because transport has grown more than expected, and partly owing to the increased number of diesel vehicles producing higher NO_x emissions than petrol-fuelled vehicles. It is also an issue that ‘real-world emissions’ often exceed the permitted test-cycle emissions used for certification of vehicles complying with Euro standards. This is particularly true for light-duty diesel vehicles.
• Six Member States also have persistent problems meeting their national emission limits for NH₃. Austria, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Netherlands and Spain all breached the ceilings for four years running (2010-13).
• Almost 95% of NH₃ emissions stem from agriculture, mainly from the use of fertilisers and the handling of animal manure. NH₃ emissions have decreased since 1990, but not to the same extent as the other pollutants covered by the NEC Directive.
• The ceilings for sulphur dioxide (SO₂) emissions were not exceeded by any Member State between 2010 and 2013.

Table ES 1: EU-27 Member State progress in meeting NECD emission ceiling

'v' indicates that the emission ceiling has been attained; 'x' indicates the ceiling has not been attained.
Years 2010, 2011 and 2012: final data; year 2013: provisional data.
Under the Gothenburg Protocol, inventory adjustment applications for emissions from Germany (for NOX) and Denmark (for NH3) were accepted by the EMEP Steering Body in 2014. However, emission data reported under the NECD used in this report are unadjusted.
See table 2.2 on page 17-18 of the report for specific figures on ceilings and emissions per country and year.

More information

• NEC Directive status report 2014
• NEC Directive data viewer